It was an anxious, restless summer night. The particles in the air were energized with an ionic acidity, making the air taste like it might rain later. The sleepy streets were stone empty. A very rare occurrence in this

town. From inside, all Felix could hear was the piercing buzz of the streetlamps outside. That, combined with the record heat and his own fears kept him from sleeping. He lay in his bed, staring at the empty stucco ceiling,

just him alone with his thoughts. What he had heard on the 11 o' clock news really bothered him this particular evening, It wasn't that it didn't bother Felix every evening, but today's programme really hit close to home. He

tried to forget about it, he rolled over on his side, shut his eyes tight, and tried thinking of... Something, literally anything else. But it proved ineffective. There he lay, wide awake, staring at his reflection on the mirror

across the room. Felix was, in every sense of the term, below average. Peaky, pale, lanky, dull, and unkempt. Admitting defeat against his new found sleeping restrictions, Felix sat upright in his bed, slid down till his feet hit

the floor, and stood up. Felix went to his living room, and turned on his Television set. But instead of late night programming appearing to greet him, it was an EBS warning. There was a low grating tone and a robotic

voice saying:

"THIS IS NOT A TEST OF THE EMERGENCY BROADCAST SYSTEM. THE INFECTIOUS DISEASE WARNING FOR THE BALTIMORE COUNTY AND SURROUNDING AREAS HAS ESCALATED. THE BODIES OF THOSE CLAIMED BY THE

UNKNOWN DISEASE HAVE RE-ANIMATED. THERE HAVE BEEN REPORTED SIGHTINGS OF THE RE-ANIMATED CORPSES IN THE BALTIMORE CITY AREA. LOCAL POLICE HAVE GIVEN CIVILIANS THE RIGHT TO DEADLY FORCE

UPON THE RE-ANIMATED BODIES ON SIGHT. THIS IS NOT A TEST OF THE EMERGENCY BROADCAST SYSTEM. THE INFECTIOUS DISEASE WARNI-" The television set suddenly shut off. Felix was right frightened.

His heart pounding, he bolted for the light switch, but after frantic flicking to no avail, his pounding heart sank. He heard a loud moan and the shattering of wet glass. Did one of them make it inside?!

Felix fled upstairs, back to his room. The message said for deadly force to be used on sight. Felix found a bat in his closet. Working up all the courage he could, he charged down the stairs, ran at the zombie,

and swung the bat at its head. There was a deafening CRACK, and a sloppy thud. Felix opened his eyes and looked down at his first kill. There was a veritable dent in the corpses head. Felix knew one thing was certain.

His home wasn't safe anymore. He had to move on. He Ran upstairs, stuffed his backpack with important things and fled from his home.